


You Are Not Alone

by Wild_Roses



Series: Wizarding World One Shots [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Parenthood, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-24 22:50:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20366407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wild_Roses/pseuds/Wild_Roses
Summary: When Andromeda died, Harry wanted to scream. He didn’t, though. He had Teddy to look after.





	You Are Not Alone

When Andromeda died, Harry wanted to scream. He didn’t, though. He had Teddy to look after.

The healers at St. Mungo’s had called Harry in the middle of a cold winter night, summoning him to the Infectious Disease ward. Harry had arrived in his pajama bottoms and Weasley jumper, scooping a frightened Teddy up and cradling him to his chest while an apologetic healer informed Harry of the circumstances. Andromeda had made a floo call to the hospital when she had begun to cough up blood. She had Dragon Pox. It had come on rather quickly, which was why she hadn’t summoned someone to help with Teddy earlier. In all likelihood, the healers explained, the disease will have run its course within a few days, and Andromeda would come out on the other side with the support of potions, fatigued but otherwise alright.

So Harry had brought Teddy back to the room that was just for him at Grimmauld place. He charmed the little stars stuck up on the roof to glow, gave the tired five year old a firm kiss on the temple and informed the DMLE that he would have to take some personal time for the rest of the week.

Three days later, Andromeda was dead. Harry still couldn’t decide whether it was a blessing or a curse that he and Teddy had been allowed to gear up in masks, gowns and gloves, and say goodbye to her one last time. Pox marks marred her sunken face, and Andromeda struggled valiantly to produce a smile and words of love for her grandson and the young man who would now be his guardian.

It was so unfair, Harry thought. That Teddy, who had already lost his own parents- parents who would have been stupidly good at the job, lost his grandmother too. The women who had raised him so well for the first five years of his life. And now he was saddled with Harry for a parent. Harry, who was twenty-two and had no clue what he was doing.

Narcissa Malfoy stepped up to plan a beautiful memorial for her sister. The two women had repaired their relationship after the end of the war. And while Harry and Narcissa still walked cautiously around one another, he was grateful for her help. He certainly couldn’t have managed to plan a funeral while struggling to answer Teddy’s questions about death.

It was a strange sort of silver lining, Harry realized, that he at least knew how it felt to grow up an orphan. He understood the precocious things that came spilling out of Teddy’s mouth during bedtime stories more than others would, at least.

At the funeral, Harry sat in the front, with Teddy securely on his lap. Draco sat next to him, his fingers laced though Harry’s. Narcissa gave a touching eulogy before picking up her great-nephew and taking Harry’s seat next to her son, as Harry walked up to the podium. Harry pulled out a tattered scrap of parchment and stumbled over the words he’d prepared. He looked only at Teddy, watching with solemn blue eyes under scruffy grey hair. He hoped he’d done the boy’s grandmother justice. Swallowing back tears, Harry ran his hand over the casket before heading back to sit down. He, too, loved Andromeda.

Harry, Draco, Arthur and Bill levitated the casket out into the graveyard, leading the procession of mourners. They settled the oak box that held Andromeda into the earth, and shifted the dirt on top of her. A dusting of snow covered the yard, and Harry wiped the elegant tombstone clean. Narcissa handed Teddy a white rose, he nervously approached the grave before setting down the bloom and whispering, “Love you, gramma.”

After the service, Molly offered to bring Teddy home with her for a few hours. Harry hesitated until Teddy tugged on his hand and said, “’S okay, Harry. I want to play with Vicky. Please?”

Some time with the cousins might be good, a distraction. Molly fixed Harry with a particularly matriarchal look that said very clearly that he was to let Teddy go with her and take some time for himself. He relented, pressing a firm kiss to Teddy’s hair and assuring them that he would be at the Burrow for dinner time. Harry wove through the lingering mourners to thank Narcissa for her help. Then he let Draco apparate him back to Grimmauld place.

They didn’t make it out of the front hall before violent sobs tore out of his chest. Draco wrapped his arms gently around his boyfriend and helped him settle to the floor, cradling him as he finally allowed his grief out. When the portrait of Mrs. Black began to bemoan her difficulties, Draco briefly left Harry to stride down the hall where he glared sternly at the painted woman before pulling the curtain to cover her once more.

Nearly a half hour later, Harry pulled away from Draco and wiped at his face. He reached down to pick at some loose threads on the hall runner and voiced his worst fear. “I’m not good enough for him.”

Draco shifted so that he was crouching in front of Harry and cupped his partner’s face in his hands. “Harry, you are brilliant with him. You can do this.”

“I can’t,” Harry sputtered, beginning to cry again. “I can’t. I can’t do this alone. His hair has been grey all week.” A desperate edge worked its way into his voice. “Yesterday he accidently turned everything in his bedroom grey and I can’t figure out how to fix it! And he’s been coming to wake me up in the middle of the night, every night. The other night I locked my door because I was just- just breaking- and when he couldn’t get in, he magicked it open and saw me looking like this!” Harry waved a vague hand up and down his figure.

“Harry,” Draco wiped away tears and pulled out a handkerchief. “Firstly, it is alright for Teddy to see that you are grieving as well.”

“What if he thinks I was upset because I don’t want him?”

Brows lifting incredulously, Draco replied, “I can promise you not a moment of his life has that boy ever felt unwanted by you.” Harry grunted miserably. “Harry, you are not alone in this.”

Harry met Draco’s eyes, surprised at the intensity they held. Draco took an unsteady breath and continued, “You know, Harry, we’ve been together a year, next week.”

Wincing Harry admitted, “With all this I- I sort of forgot. Sorry.”

Draco smiled his forgiveness. “I’d been planning to ask you what you might think about the idea of us living together?”

“Oh,” Harry blinked, surprised for a moment before disappointment settled in. “Oh. But now it’s different.”

“No, you thick dunce. I am saying you _don’t need to do this alone_.” Draco’s sympathy evidently had run its course and he looked down at Harry condescendingly.

“But… but Teddy. That’s not your responsibility. And,” Harry realized something, “I can’t bring someone else into his life like that if they might not…” He didn’t want to finish the sentence, suspecting that Draco would be hurt by it. But it was true. He couldn’t allow someone else to act as a parent to Teddy unless they would be around forever.

Draco growled, “You know I love him, too, Harry. And, it just so happens that you are it, for me. So unless you aren’t sure about- about us…”

Harry, who had been slumped against the wall, sat up to pull Draco into an embrace. “I didn’t mean that,” he whispered. “I- you are for me, too.”

“Good,” Draco replied primly. “So that’s that, then.”

“But…” Harry pulled away to study Draco’s face, “Do you even want kids?”

With a chuckle, Draco kissed Harry lightly, “I want whatever sort of a family I can have with you. I’d be happy if it were just the three of us. I’d be happy if you wanted to adopt more children.”

“Oh.” Harry’s eyes were welling up again.

Rolling his eyes fondly, Draco stood and reached down to pull Harry up with him. “Let’s head up to Teddy’s bedroom. I’m far superior to you at charms, I’m sure I can fix your monochromatic problem.”

***

Just over a year later Harry reached for his pocket watch on the bedside table and was surprised to discover it was nearly ten in the morning. He hadn’t had a sleep in since before Teddy started living with him. Draco wasn’t next to him, so Harry presumed that he was keeping the boy occupied. He pulled on some clothes, brushed his teeth and ambled downstairs in no rush. It was brilliant that he’d managed to have a sleep in, as tonight he was dropping Teddy off for a sleepover at Narcissa’s and taking Draco out to a fancy restaurant for their anniversary. He intended to stay up quite a lot later than they typically would afterwards.

His jaw dropped as he entered the kitchen. A full breakfast, including a platter of fresh fruit that was wildly out of season, covered the dining table. A large bouquet of blooms sat in the centre of it all. Draco had his back turned, preparing tea. He jumped when Harry said good morning, and whirled around, eyes panicked.

“Oi, Teddy!” He hollered, “Get in here! Harry’s up.”

“Oh, oh!” Harry could hear Teddy squeal from the other room, the sound of pattering feet soon following. Teddy was holding a banner that was slightly too large for his arms, and he skidded with his socks on the floor, running fully into the counter next to Draco.

Draco’s eyes flew wide and he crouched down next to Teddy, stroking his blue hair, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Teddy replied flippantly before asking eagerly, “Is it time?”

With a smile of amusement, Draco righted himself. “Yes, it’s time.”

“Brilliant,” Teddy said, turning around and stretching his arms wide to show Harry the contents of his banner.

It was upside-down, so Harry twisted his head to decipher the script, which was clearly Draco’s, as Draco walked to stand next to Harry.

_We will always be family. Will you marry me, Harry?_

Harry turned to find Draco had settled on to one knee, holding up a simple gold band with a nervous smile. Beaming, Harry nodded and dropped down next to Draco, pulling him into a kiss. Teddy cheered.

“Come here, Teddy,” Draco grinned, “I’ve a question for you, too.”

Teddy ran up and squeezed his way in between them, looking towards Draco.

“Would you allow me to adopt you? To officially be your parent?”

The high pitch squeals his godson made nearly burst Harry’s ears as he said, “Yes, yes, yes!” and threw his arms in a stranglehold around Draco’s neck.

“I think,” Draco quipped, “That your answer was a little lackluster, Harry.”

“I love you, you git,” Harry pressed a kiss to Teddy’s head before pulling him off of Draco, so he could give his fiancée an enthusiastic kiss.

***


End file.
